A Proud Certified Professional Photographer

I have been a member of PPA (Professional Photographers of America) since 2014, in 2018 I won a scholarship to attend Imaging USA, their annual national conference. At Imaging USA I heard about their Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) program. I got to see my peers walking around with their CPP pins and flair, walk past the giant board with the new CPPs names listed and those proud CPPs posing for photos and pointing at their name, and even go past the CPPs VIP room.

When I came home I started to research more into what becoming a CPP involved. Becoming a CPP was something I wanted to do but honestly, the requirements terrified me! Every year at Imaging I would see the CPPS, come home and read over the requirements again and decide I couldn’t do it.

Last summer I decided that it was something I wanted to do and maybe I should have a go. The first requirement is a 100 question test that requires 70 correct answers to pass. I purchased a test prep guide so I could start to review everything I would need to know and it was pretty overwhelming. The test is broken down into multiple sections covering everything from the equipment you use and how it works, correct exposure and calculating equivalent exposures, lighting and the various ratios you can use to create shadows, posing, post production work and everything in between. I went over a few pages and put it aside as life got busy.

As January crept closer, I knew that I would have the chance to take the test at Imaging so I decided to take a practice test to see how I would do and I got a 63.

I signed up for the test and picked up the test prep guide again…when others were partying at Imaging, I was in the hotel room cramming. As I went into the test, the proctor said “I have calculators if anyone needs to borrow one” most people went up to get one while I was sat there looking at another confused person mouthing “you need a calculator?!” and shrugging! Nothing like a moment of panic before a test.

I started the test by writing down all the different ratios, f/stops, ISOs, shutter speeds etc so that my mind was clear before numbers were thrown at me and began the first question. At the end of the test, I went through my answers again (for about the 4^th time!) and counted the questions that I was fairly confident were correct. I had around 70. I walked out of the room unsure of how I actually did, it was pretty unnerving since I have always previously come out of tests and exams with a feeling of how it went.

When the email results finally came I was ecstatic to find out that I had passed with 91/100 correct (and I didn’t even need a calculator 😉 )!

The second requirement is submitting 3 images. They have to contain certain items set up in a very specific way. You are told the exact distance that your lights need to be positioned from the subjects and the power that the main light must be on as well at the lighting ratio – so you have to calculate the difference in power between the two lights to get the right ratio. You are given the f/stop that you need to use and then have to figure out the other settings to get the correct exposure without blowing out the highlights or clipping the shadows. It’s like a puzzle where you are only given some of the pieces.

I set everything up and started to play, I would take an image and then load it onto my computer so I could see how I was doing before tweaking and trying again. Once I had the lightbulb moment of what the missing piece was, I was quickly able to get the first image and move the camera to get the second and third images.

I submitted my images at the beginning of June and waited and waited, checking my email obsessively. Yesterday I finally got the email I had been waiting on. My images were approved and I had been awarded my designation of Certified Professional Photographer.

I am so proud of myself for being afraid to fail but determined enough to go for it anyway! It just goes to show that you really should have more confidence in yourself. Who knows what you can achieve when you set your mind to it?

Now I have it, I have to recertify every year by earning enough merits in continuing education – something I do anyway because I am a lifelong learner and always looking to improve.

So, what does this mean for my clients? It means that the Professional Photographers of America recognizes fewer than 2,500 CPPs across America (that’s just 3% of photographers!) and I am one of them. I have proven myself to be an expert in my field and as such I am held to high standards in my industry. I am committed to furthering my education so I can always bring my A game to my sessions and continue to hone my craft. You can read more from the PPA on the importance of hiring a CPP here.

Now, if I can just work out what the others needed the calculator for…